Various luminaires may employ, as light radiation source assemblies, flexible modules such as protected LED flex modules. In such a module, the light radiation sources are arranged in a case adapted to ensure a protection against external agents (e.g. with an IPx-grade protection).
The electrical connection (for power supply, but optionally also for the transmission of control/feedback signals) of the light radiation sources may be implemented either via soldered wires or via connectors installed at the end of the module.
With this solution, as the connector may be rather bulky in order to cover the whole module profile, at the connector end carrying the connector it may be difficult to ensure a good thermal dissipation, e.g. for power modules. Moreover, the possibility of applying the connector only at the end of a module may jeopardize the installation flexibility thereof: e.g. the installer may be forced to arrange the power supply at a terminal position of the module, while on the contrary it would be preferable to have the possibility to implement the connection at any point along the module length.
The described solution may impose constraints also because the profile of the light radiation source module needs to be compatible with the connector volume and shape. Moreover, the separation or gap which may be created between the lighting module and the mounting substrate does not ensure a complete thermal coupling between the module and the substrate (heatsink) and may also affect the optical performance of the module.
To tackle with the problem, the module may be contacted completely with the plane of mounting substrate, either by implementing a direct soldering of the electrical contact pads or by creating a dedicated groove adapted to receive the protruding part of the connector. However, such solutions are quite complicated and may adversely affect the production and installation costs.